UTILIZATION OF PHONICS APPROACH AND READING SKILL LEVELS IN FILIPINO OF GRADE 2 LEARNERS: FOUNDATION FOR AN ENHANCED SCHOOL READING PROGRAM

The development of reading skills in early learners remained a critical focus in education, particularly in Filipino language proficiency. The phonics approach, recognized for its effectiveness in building foundational literacy skills, played a significant role in improving reading performance among young learners. This study determined the utilization of the phonics approach by home reading facilitators and the reading skill levels in Filipino of Grade 2 learners in Masinloc District, Schools Division of Zambales, during the School Year 2024-2025. A quantitativedescriptive, causal-comparative, and correlational design was used, employing a validated questionnaire to assess the utilization of the phonics approach by home reading facilitators (α = 0.97) in terms of reading motivation, reading materials, reading sessions, and reading engagement, as well as the reading skill levels of Grade 2 learners (α = 0.92) concerning letter recognition, phonemic awareness, word decoding, and reading comprehension. Findings revealed that the majority of home reading facilitators were aged 30 to 39, predominantly female, college graduates, with a family income of P20,000 to P39,999, and spent 1.0 to 1.9 hours on home reading instruction. They frequently utilized the phonics approach, with mean ratings ranging from 3.03 to 3.07 across dimensions. Grade 2 learners demonstrated proficient reading skills in Filipino. A significant difference was observed in facilitators’ utilization of the phonics approach based on their demographic profile. Moreover, a moderately positive and significant correlation was found between facilitators' phonics approach utilization and learners’ reading skill levels, leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. An enhanced school reading program was developed to strengthen home reading facilitators’ support and improve learners’ reading skills in Filipino. This study provided empirical evidence on the impact of home-based phonics instruction on early reading proficiency, guiding the development of targeted literacy interventions.